As it is generally known, various types of storage services can be used to provide external data storage from storage server systems (“storage systems”) to client computer systems (“client systems”). For example, Network-Attached Storage (NAS) systems provide file-based storage services to client systems over a network. File-based storage services provide external storage to client systems in the form of externally stored files, so that the users of the client systems can access the files as if they were located on the local storage of the client system. NAS systems may use various specific protocols to provide file-based storage services to a client system, including but not limited to the Network File System (NFS) distributed file system protocol, the Server Message Block (SMB)/Common Internet File System (CIFS) application-layer network protocol, and/or Apple Filing Protocol (AFP).
Block-based storage services provide external storage in the form of blocks served by storage systems from remote disk storage devices. For example, block-based storage services may employ the Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI). iSCSI is an Internet Protocol (IP)-based storage networking standard for linking data storage resources, and allows a client system to access external storage from the storage system as if it were from a locally attached disk. Block-based storage services may also use Fibre Channel (FC) network technology, and/or the Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) protocol or the like in the context of Direct Attached Storage (DAS).
While providing a storage service to one or more users, some storage systems maintain metadata related to the service being provided. This metadata may include various specific types of information associated with providing the service. In existing systems, this “storage service metadata” is stored by the storage system separately and independently from the storage device that is used to supply the external storage for storing user data from the client system.